Farethee Well
Our good friend and ex-Vancouver resident Paul Beadle was here in Vancouver for 3 weeks earlier in July. Whilst here he traveled almost constantly, shredded his whip, got it stolen, shredded everyone else’s whip and reconnected with old friends all whilst escaping the cold climate in the southern hemisphere. There’s not a person alive who has met Beadle and not said ‘He’s such a nice guy’ and unfortunately its true so I can’t dish out any shit talk on the guy. Bummer!
Here are some fun facts about Paul Beadle:
1. He has very good work ethic and guilt tripped me to give two weeks notice to my boss before quitting cos it was the ‘right thing to do’ even though they didn’t care and I hated them.
2. Paul once spent 1-2 hours going in circles around a washing line on a moped.
3. There’s a great picture of Paul bunny-hopping two chain-links in Mission Bay Auckland, what you don’t see is that Paul’s tire’s tagged the first chain on the way up and the second chain on the way down. Boy’s got pop luck!
4. Paul has had his teeth whitened.
5. Paul had his nose broken by some guys in the 1st week he landed in Vanocuver for wearing a skin tight one-piece ski suit. Paul lost his cell phone and a flip flop that night but gained his pride because the attack was provoked because he was getting “too much attention from the girls” at the bar he was at.
6. Paul is the most loyal bastard you’ll ever befriend. He may actually be part Labrador but DNA testing for that is unethical at present.
One of the last days I spent with Paul we managed to get a shred in at Horseshoe Bay. Nothing bets a good Beadle X-up over a Horseshoe Bay hip.
If you’ve ever been out to Horseshoe Bay you know that one of the most exhilarating feelings is carving the bowl at speed. Back home in New Zealand there aren’t too many bowels, and of them there aren’t too many that could rival Horseshoe. Paul getting exhilarated before he heads home.
I love Beadle’s table’s. I like ’em even more when I think how they came about. Paul wanted to get them for so long, he could do all sorts of street tricks but he never really got into bowls or ‘transition tricks’ until we came to Vancouver. He worked hard all the time at dialing in his Tabletops but they never really looked right. Then, upon a roadtrip in Seattle, young Beadle got to ride with some of the finest soul riders North America has to offer (think ‘Building the Underground’-seriously!). When he got back it was like magic, he new how to shred ‘lines’ and out of nowhere he could click those tables, bent knees, turned bars, tucked in elbows. And there you have it the Beadle Flatty was born.
Hopefully we will see Beadle again in Vancouver but in the meantime enjoy these pics and reminisce on the good times we had with this cheeky chap.